Miles Pot 101: How to Stack Points Fast and Hard

Rebates — The Most Beautiful Word in the World

Every time we swipe a card, banks collect fees. And to stay competitive and profitable, they offer us something magical in return: rebates. Use a card? Get cash back. Open a new card? Get a bonus.

This system is the foundation of the points game.

💵 Everyday Cashback from Cards

• Uncapped, No-Category Cards
  Flat 1–2% cashback on all purchases

• Uncapped, Category Cards
  Unlimited 3% cashback at grocery stores, for example

• Capped, Category Cards
  5% cashback at office supply stores — up to $25K spend per year

These cashback structures are your baseline — but the real gold lies elsewhere.

🏆 Signup Bonuses: The Highest ROI

Typical offer:
Spend $4,000 in 6 months and get $800. That’s equivalent to 20% cashback — far beyond any regular card. Now, imagine this is a grocery card offering 3% on top. Spending $4,000 at grocery stores = 23% total cashback. "Who spends that much on groceries in 6 months?" I do. (Advanced stacking tips are shared in our community tiers — stay tuned.)

👶 Beginners: Start Here

Signup bonuses are the fastest way to rack up points.

1. Find great card offers (ideally with high SUBs).
2. Open as many cards as you reasonably can per year.
3. Don’t worry too much about credit scores — just review before taking out loans.

Let’s do the math.
If a couple opens 20 cards in a year, each requiring $4K in spend and offering $800 cashback:

• $80K spend
• $16K earned
• That’s free flights, hotels, or even cold hard cash.

Just try one card and get your first bonus.
If it feels good (it will), scale up based on your spending power.
If spending gets tough? Move to the intermediate phase.

🧗 Intermediate: How to Spend More (Organically)

If you have high expenses or run a business — you’re already set.

But for the rest of us, it’s about finding ways to pay with a card.
Ever seen a 3% credit card fee and decided to Venmo or bank transfer instead?
Now that you’re holding cards that give 10–20% cashback (from SUBs),
even a 3% fee is worth it.

💡 Organic Spend Tips

• Property Taxes:
  Check if your county allows card payments.
  (Santa Clara County allows partial payments — a great bonus.)

• Federal Taxes:
  Adjust your W-4 to minimize withholding, then prepay taxes via 1040-ES with a card.

• Bills:
  Prepay phone, internet, or utilities — most allow large advance payments, up to a point.

🧠 Advanced: Spending Beyond the Bonus

Let’s keep it simple here — the juicy secrets stay within the Miles Pot community.

The core idea?
Run a business with a 0% margin.
Big expenses. Big revenue. No profit.
You don’t earn from your business — you earn from the rebates on your massive spend.

At this level, signup bonuses are just the beginning.

🔥 Example

You only open high-requirement, high-reward cards.
Spend $10K, get $2.5K cashback.
Do that 20 times = $200K spend → $50K earned.

At this stage, you don’t “spend” money — you print it.
It’s addictively fun.